The Life of Myrtle Irene Currey

Early Years in Kansas

Myrtle Irene Currey was born on January 11, 1899, in Pomeroy, Wyandotte County, Kansas. She was the daughter of Hiram M. Currey and grew up in eastern Kansas. By June 1900, at only a year old, she was living with her family in Delaware Township, Leavenworth County. The 1900 census recorded her as “Myrtle Carrey,” a one-year-old white female born in Kansas.

In 1905, Myrtle’s family was enumerated in the Kansas state census at Lansing, Leavenworth County, where she appeared as a six-year-old “Myrtle Curry.” Five years later, in 1910, the U.S. census listed her in Rooks County, Kansas, age eleven, living with her parents and siblings.

Life in Missouri

By her teenage years, Myrtle lived with her aunt, Elizabeth Jane (Currey) Rigby, at 3816 Paseo in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1914. Two years later, in 1916, she was living at 2808 Peery Avenue, Kansas City, and then at 1225 E. 23rd in North Kansas City. These years in Missouri positioned Myrtle to begin her adult working life.

Marriage to Claud E. Gaskill

Myrtle married Claud Everett Gaskill on March 24, 1917, in Dodge City, Kansas. Claud, born September 4, 1890, in Wray, Colorado, worked as a carpenter and later as an employee of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

The couple settled in Dodge City, where Myrtle began working for Southwestern Bell. The 1920 census shows her as “Myrtle Gaskil,” age twenty-one, with Claud listed as a carpenter. By 1925, the Kansas state census recorded her as “Myrtle Gaskell,” age twenty-six.

Family Life

Myrtle and Claud raised four daughters in Dodge City:

• Dorothy Irene Gaskill (1918–1992), who lived her entire life in Dodge City.
• Billie Louise Gaskill (1919–1966), who married twice and died in Kansas City.
• Marjorie May Gaskill (1921–1999), who married Gerald Kerr and later Nathan Peters.
• Ruth Jean Gaskill (1925–1966), who married John Elmer Foskuhl and died in Missouri.

The family lived at 510½ Avenue G in Dodge City in 1930. Myrtle, then thirty-two and divorced, was working as a hotel maid.

Second Marriage to Everett Donald Jones

On June 1, 1936, Myrtle married Everett Donald Jones in Garden City, Kansas. Don, born January 28, 1903, in Lyon County, Kansas, worked in service stations and later as a transport driver. By the 1940 census, Myrtle was listed as a telephone operator and Don as a filling station worker.

The couple remained lifelong residents of Dodge City, living at 310 Kirk Street through the 1950s and 1960s. Myrtle was active in the First Missionary Church and the Bell Telephone Employee Association.

Later Years and Family Connections

Myrtle attended a Currey family reunion in Sedona, Arizona, in 1964, reconnecting with her siblings and extended family. By this time, she had spent nearly five decades in Dodge City, balancing family life with her career at Southwestern Bell.

Her later years were marked by family joys and sorrows. Two of her daughters—Billie and Ruth—predeceased her in the 1960s. Yet she lived to see many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Death and Legacy

Myrtle Irene (Currey) Gaskill Jones passed away on July 23, 1970, at age seventy-one, at the Good Samaritan Home in Dodge City. Her obituary described her as a longtime resident, faithful church member, and dedicated Southwestern Bell employee.

She was survived by her husband, Donald Jones; daughters Dorothy Gaskill and Marjorie Peters; two brothers, Ernest and Herbert Currey; three sisters, Mrs. Joe Walters, Mrs. Alma Taylor, and Mrs. Crawford; thirteen grandchildren; and fifteen great-grandchildren. She was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Dodge City on July 25, 1970.

Her first husband, Claud Gaskill, had died in 1962 and was also buried at Maple Grove. Her second husband, Don Jones, passed away shortly after her in August 1970 and rests beside her.